A piece of good news and a piece of bad news, both related to Japan.

First, the good news: Japan is crowded. On October 15, the Japan Tourism Agency released the tourism situation for this year, and the number of tourists visiting Japan in the first three quarters exceeded 30 million, setting a new record for the fastest growth. Among them, mainland Chinese tourists were the main force, with about 7.98 million mainland Chinese visitors, an increase of about 60% compared to the previous year, accounting for approximately 25% of the total. Now, the local people in Japan are full of confidence, highlighting the grand goal of achieving 60 million visitors to Japan by 2030.

Now, the bad news: per capita consumption has declined. The ultimate purpose of attracting foreign tourists, especially Chinese tourists, to Japan is still to buy luxury goods such as bags, shoes, and clothing, as well as to increase revenue for hotels and catering industries. However, they are now facing a situation where high-priced goods sales are weak and the focus on quantity over quality in inbound consumption. On September 10, the Nikkei News had previously pointed out that "Chinese tourists' spending in Japan has decreased, and luxury goods are struggling in Japan."

I asked some friends who like to go to Japan, and they revealed some real situations. It's not that they don't buy luxury goods, but it's not cost-effective to buy them in Japan. Previously, when the yen exchange rate was good, both tourism accommodation and buying luxury goods were roughly discounted by 70%. But now, the yen exchange rate has been continuously rising, and the cost-effectiveness of traveling to Japan is decreasing.

For example, a bag that used to cost 20,000 yuan domestically now costs only 14,000 yuan in Japan, but now it costs around 17,000 to 18,000 yuan. In contrast, domestic areas have seen higher cost-effectiveness due to the rise of tax-free and discount industries. During this year's National Day holiday, the tax-free sales amount in Hainan Island reached 944 million yuan, with an average shopping amount per person of 7,685 yuan, increasing by 13.6% and 10% respectively. On the online discount platform Vipshop, from mid-September to the end of the National Day holiday, the sales of well-known brands such as Burberry, Coach, and Tory Burch increased rapidly, and the proportion of young people's consumption increased significantly. It can be said that the rapid development of China's tax-free industry is driving a large number of consumers back to the domestic market.

In 2007, Japan set a strategy of "Tourism-based Nation," with Chinese tourists being its main target. In the peak period of 2009, one-third of the tourists came from China, and Chinese tourists did indeed spend money at that time, to the extent that Japanese media directly described them as "generous and generous." Now, even though people go there, they don't spend money, which is why many Japanese media outlets are sighing.

Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1846138520004615/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.